


Sprain

by Koschei_Oakdown



Category: Green Lantern - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-11-04 19:28:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17904158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Koschei_Oakdown/pseuds/Koschei_Oakdown
Summary: Sin sprains his ankle





	Sprain

**Author's Note:**

> Credit to DC Comics

Around the middle of Hal recounting his daring escape from the aliens he'd accidentally offended the day before, Sinestro stumbled, gasped in pain, and hit the ground with a thud. "Sinestro?" In a second, Hal was at the Korugarian's side, down on one knee, desperate to help in any way he could. "What happened?"

Teeth gritted, Sinestro sat back and Hal noticed him flinch when his ankle brushed the ground. "It appears," Sinestro said, with an attempt at playing off the matter like it was unimportant, "uneven ground is a mortal enemy I should take care to avoid in the future." He tried to stand back up but stopped quickly, wincing.

"You'll be fine," Hal hastily assured, more for his own benefit than for Sinestro's. "Here, let me take a look." He moved closer and grasped Sinestro by the calf of his injured leg. From what he could see, through the skin-tight green material, Sinestro's ankle was already swelling up. "That doesn't look good. Should we put some ice on it?"

"Ice?" Sinestro questioned, frowning as he looked at his ankle. "No, I don't think so. I can walk perfectly fine, Jordan." As though about to prove his point, he yanked his foot free from Hal's grip, nearly kicking Hal in the face, and made to stand up. That attempt too, was abandoned within seconds and Sinestro looked annoyed.

"Yeah," Hal answered his own question. "I think you need some ice." Using his ring, he created a couple of ice packs which he set against Sinestro's ankle, though careful not to bump it too much. "You're lucky I know basic first aid," he commented. "Assuming it's the same for aliens. Of course, this wouldn't have happened if you'd just been flying. Nothing to trip over in the sky."

"I was preserving my ring energy," Sinestro sniped at him. "Perhaps you should try it some time." As Sinestro didn't seem to be in a very good mood, Hal kept silent, not wanting to start an argument. "Ring." Sinestro had moved on from talking with Hal, and his tone held a note of uncertainty. "Is my ankle broken?"

Broken bones usually took longer to heal than sprains, and Hal guessed Sinestro didn't want to be benched. It was a concern Hal could understand, he'd be feeling much the same way in Sinestro's position. But the ring gave a negative, Sinestro's ankle was only sprained.

"Well, that's a relief," Hal voiced what Sinestro had to be thinking. "Give it a few days of bed rest and you'll be back getting on people's nerves in no time. I'll even keep you company, if you want." While usually, he'd avoid going anywhere near the sterile nature of medical, he'd do anything if Sinestro asked it of him.

Before Sinestro could offer an answer, which Hal hoped fervently would be a 'yes', both power rings lit up with an incoming transmission. "It's that distress call again," Hal informed Sinestro. This was what had brought them to land on this planet in the first place, instead of returning straight to the Guardians like had been requested.

Even as Hal had the thought, he and Sinestro received another message, this one from the Guardians. They were growing impatient, if the Guardians could be impatient, and they weren't interested in whatever petty problems were stopping their Lanterns. "Distress call takes priority," Sinestro responded firmly, as he'd already decided before. "Let's go."

Naturally, Sinestro failed at getting to his feet for a third time and Hal eyed him warily. Questioning Sinestro usually didn't end well, but Hal did not want Sinestro getting involved in a dangerous situation with a sprained ankle. "Maybe you should head back to Oa," he suggested, trying and failing to sound casual about it. "Talk down the Guardians. Get that leg seen to. Heck, I'll fly you back there myself -"

"No." Sinestro was firm, though his eyes were averted from Hal, focused on his ankle. "We are responding to that distress call. We've already had this discussion, Jordan." Except that had been before Sinestro had been hurt. "My injury changes nothing. Now, help me up. I can fly the rest of the way."

Demandingly, Sinestro held out a hand and Hal was obliged to take it, to help Sinestro up off the ground. Once there, Sinestro used his ring to fly, so his feet would no longer be supporting any weight. At some point, he'd also wrapped his ankle in green bandages, no doubt an effort to keep it from getting bumped. Hal didn't think that was likely to work.

If their positions were reversed, if it was Hal injured, not Sinestro, it would be quite different, Hal knew. Already, Sinestro would have snatched Hal's ring, locked him in a construct package and sent him back to Oa. But that was Sinestro, who had a loose relationship with allowing people to make their own decisions. Hal couldn't do that.

Neither, however, could Hal allow Sinestro to respond to this distress call when not at full health. So he caught ahold of Sinestro's shoulder before the alien could take off. "Sinestro, I'm serious. I can handle this by myself. Go back to Oa and when I'm finished here, I'll tell everyone you sprained your ankle doing something way more heroic than tripping over." Appealing to Sinestro's vanity, Hal had found, usually got good results.

Not this time however. "I did not trip," Sinestro argued instantly. "It was the fault of - of the ground!" He jabbed a finger at it and Hal felt his temper rising. Sometimes, Sinestro was just insufferable. "You cannot stop me from attending that distress call," Sinestro finished, and this was when the stubbornness the ring had chosen him for really got in the way.

"Dammit, Thaal, I'm trying to help you!" Hal was was ready to do something drastic but he took a deep breath, tried to calm himself down. "What if you make your ankle worse?" he appealed. "Then you're gonna be spending more than just a few days out of action. You might, I don't know, cause permanent injury? I can handle this. Trust me. And even if I can't, there are plenty of other Green Lanterns who can help me."

Somehow, completely by accident, Hal had struck a nerve, which was a shame, because Sinestro had appeared to be listening up until that point. "You expect to replace me with some other Green Lantern?" Sinestro hissed, eyes flashing angrily. "You think so little of me? Am I worthless because of one injury?" And that was when Hal realised, Sinestro wasn't just angry, he was upset.

"What are you talking about?" Hal tried for something soothing, though he was a bit confused, and reached out. His hands dropped lightly onto Sinestro's shoulders. "Sin, no one can replace you. I'd have to call at least five Lanterns to even try. Scratch that, I'd need like, an army." Now the flattery was paying off, Sinestro was relaxing under Hal's touch. Had Sinestro really been bothered by something so ludicrous?

"I just can't have you right now," Hal continued. "Though, obviously, that's what I'd prefer. Can you imagine if you had to be stuck on Oa for more than a few days? Personally, I'd die of boredom. No one there can hold an interesting conversation." Hal made an expression of disgust. "Anyway, I need to go so I'll meet you back on Oa. Alright?"

There was a moment of silence. As Sinestro considered, his eyebrows were pulled together. "Fine. I shall obey the Guardians' summons. But only because I wish not for my injury to worsen." With that, Sinestro spun in the air and made to fly away but Hal caught him around the waist, managed to hold him back. And then, before Sinestro could protest, Hal pulled him into a tight hug. "What -?"

"Don't fly into any black holes," Hal interrupted. "This will just be a huge waste of time if you get yourself killed flying back to Oa." Now Hal couldn't help but want Sinestro to stay with him, just so he could keep an eye on the injured Lantern. But that was irrational. "So be careful." He pulled back, hesitated, but did somehow manage to wrench himself away.

"I'll be fine." Far from being annoyed Hal was holding him up, Sinestro now looked more amused than anything. "Goodbye, Hal." His fingers fluttered in a little wave, and this time, when he flew off, Hal didn't stop him, just watched until Sinestro was gone from view. Then he returned to their task of tracking down the origin of the distress call.


End file.
